As is often the way, today was a fairly typical bank holiday with most of it being spoilt somewhat by very wet weather conditions (or as the Water Companies say; “drought conditions”!) Not letting the rain dampen my spirits; I made the most of this much appreciated day off by visiting Ropley on the Watercress Line. Two…
One of the Bluebell Railway‘s treasures took one step closer to returning to service yesterday, with a successful steam testing. The H Class 0-4-4 tank engine is the only surviving member of a class that once numbered 66 prototypes. Once again, it will be returned to full SECR lined green livery, recreating more scenes like…
A trip to see family allowed for a quick whistle-stop visit at the Kent and East Sussex Railway. I grew up with this railway on my doorstep and it was great to go back and see how the line is doing. Self-branded as “England’s finest rural light railway”, the K&ESR is a delightful railway running…
Just a quick post today. En-route to visit family I stopped at Basingstoke to see 4464 Bittern arrive. Originally 6201 Princess Elizabeth was scheduled to take the service, but she failed yesterday. Fortunately her super-sub was more than capable of taking its spot. I had hoped to meet Simon of Brookes Castle at Eastleigh, but unfortunately…
Model Rail magazine announced today that they have commissioned Dapol to produce a RTR USA dock tank. This is a fantastic development for Southern modellers like myself to have a RTR version of something very unique in 00 scale. The locomotives were constructed in Pennsylvania for use during the second world war and were used throughout Europe.…
I hope all my followers had a good Easter Sunday, with plenty of chocolate
What a fantastic weekend we have had, perfect weather for steam gala’s; perhaps in hindsight a bit too perfect leading to very dry conditions… Gala season has well and truly started, with the Watercress Line, West Somerset Railway and Severn Valley Railway all holding their Spring gala’s on 23-25th March. It might have been for…
As mentioned in my post yesterday, I visited the Watercress Line (or Mid-Hants Railway) on Saturday. It is the closest preserved line from where I live and I visit when I can. Although not the longest preserved line (7 miles long), it is a pleasant railway journey. The towns at either end of the line…
No new posts for the past few days, due to another visit to the Watercress Line and the addition of a links and locomotive pages to the blog. I shall add a post soon with some more pictures from my Mid-Hants visit. In the meantime, a picture to wet your appetite!
Looking across the yard today, I reflected that Railway modellers live in very good times. The range of Ready to Run (RTR) models available is incredible really. With that in mind, I lined up four locomotives for the picture above showing some contrasting examples from all three major RTR manufacturers of 00 models. It makes…
Loco Yard 